The term originated with Jay Conrad Levinson’s 1983 book ‘Guerrilla Marketing’ and has blown up into its own genre. Give it a Google and you’ll see some mind blowing examples.

So, what exactly is Guerrilla Marketing?

Basically, Guerrilla Marketing has become Out of Home advertising, outside of the box — way outside of the box. It even has sub-genres: ambient, ambush, stealth, viral, and street marketing.

It’s unexpected. It’s eye-catching. It’s clever.

Red Bull went viral when 8 million viewers on YouTube watched Felix Baumgartner set a 2012 skydiving record by jumping from 128,100 feet for the Red Bull Stratos campaign.

How’s that going to work for you?

Guerrilla marketing can be effective without going viral or
attracting news crews. Focus on your unique selling proposition — your USP.
What sets your business apart from every other one in the world? You’re a
husband and wife team — a decorated vet — a former sports star — an
average-looking good-hearted soul. Pick an angle and work it.

Go beyond what’s comfortable.

If you’re a former high school sports star, become your team’s
biggest fan. Hire the cheer leaders and athletes to wash cars for free. Run ads
celebrating the game’s MVP. Have every one of your staff wear your school’s
colors on game day. Give 5% off for every touchdown or goal scored.

If you’re a veteran, park a tank in front of your shop. Fly the
biggest flag. Give a 20% discount to other vets. Make Memorial Day and Veterans
Day your days. Hand out flags on the Fourth of July. Paint the side of your
building with a patriotic mural.

If you’re just a good-hearted soul, buy ten dozen cases of girl
scout cookies and have the girls give them out to passersby with a nice note
from you stuck to every box.

What’s guerrilla about that? Everything. It’s outside the normal
marketing channels and it sets you apart.

If you’ve got zillions of dollars, you can send a daredevil into
the stratosphere. You can paint the tallest building in your town chartreuse
with your logo in purple. You can wrap busses to look like a shark chasing a
goldfish. But if your budget’s a little more earthbound, just think outside of
the regular channels.

Pay the city to rent a block of parking meters and bag them with
your logo for one Saturday a month.

Mailers, inserts, radio, Out-of-Home, print, bus wraps etc. are
all great ways to keep your brand in the public eye but it’s the unexpected
campaigns that make those tried and true channels really pay off.

Here’s where consistency is key.

If you really did paint the town’s tallest building chartreuse
(you’re awesome), your mailers, outdoor boards, and business cards better be
the same color. If you’re the town’s favorite ex-quarterback, every piece of
collateral has to call back to that fact. If you paid off the girl scouts
because you’re really nice, um…call us and we’ll make that sing.

And don’t let up. Advertising is a long-term investment. It takes
time and repetition to build momentum.

Whatever you do, grab attention. Seth Godin, in his book ‘Purple
Cow,’ says that if you’re driving by a thousand cows and one of them is purple,
that’s the cow you’re going to slow down and stare at.

How can you make your business stand out?

Ryan Holiday, when he was the director of marketing for American
Apparel, actually vandalized his own tastelessly provocative outdoor boards and
blamed it on protestors to generate controversy and buzz. It worked. Don’t do
that.

Get on Google and explore the crazy Guerrilla Marketing big brands
have done. What can you do that will make your customers talk?